Irony: Union attacks CCSD for giving NPRI public information that CCSD is withholding from NPRI

Almost a month ago, NPRI requested the work e-mail addresses for all teachers in the Clark County School District under NRS 239, Nevada's public-records law. In part, NRS 239.010 reads:

4. A person may request a copy of a public record in any medium in which the public record is readily available. An officer, employee or agent of a governmental entity who has legal custody or control of a public record shall not refuse to provide a copy of that public record in a readily available medium because the officer, employee or agent has already prepared or would prefer to provide the copy in a different medium.

Basically, we requested the work e-mail addresses of government employees. Information doesn't get more public than that.

But, as is far too often the case with CCSD, the district hasn't fulfilled NPRI's records request. CCSD officials told NPRI they'd respond by June 22, then said they'd respond by July 3 (today) and on June 29 sent us a question about our request. They still haven't responded. In other words: delay, delay, stall and more delay.

As Sen. Ben Kieckhefer noted on Twitter this morning, "I'm curious as to how law dictates the Gov of NV must turn over actual e-mails but CCSD won't even provide people's e-mail addresses."

So, here we have CCSD not (yet) fulfilling a request for public information.

But CCEA's not investigating why CCSD is violating state law by not fulfilling NPRI's records request. CCEA is investigating whether CCSD gave NPRI teacher e-mails, which CCSD did not do, but should have under NRS 239.

In other words, if CCSD officials had given NPRI teachers' e-mail addresses (which they didn't), CCSD would just be following state law. Instead, CCSD officials are stalling NPRI's request, which is what CCEA wants, and CCEA is throwing a fit.

The irony is rich here. And this would be hilarious, except we still don't have our public records.

Although the district's four unions representing administrators, police, support staff and teachers are able to use the email system to contact their constituents, outside groups - such as vendors and non-union political groups - are not privy to this e-mail database, Fulkerson said.

Victor Joecks is executive vice president at the Nevada Policy Research Institute and oversees the execution of NPRI's strategic plan and policy initiatives. These efforts have included NPRI successfully informing voters about the destructive impact of tax increase ballot measure, creating TransparentCalifornia.com, which has received over 40 million page views and running campaigns that have decreased union members by thousands, including expanding that effort into a national coalition of over 100 organizations.